Musk has since stepped up his attacks against both Apple and OpenAI, filing a lawsuit on Monday accusing the two companies of colluding to entrench monopolies in the burgeoning AI chatbot market. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Musk’s companies X and xAI, two days after he went public with complaints about Apple shunning Grok on the App Store.

The lawsuit is the latest in a series of escalations over the deal. In addition to antitrust and unfair competition allegations, Musk had previously threatened to prevent Apple devices from accessing Grok “if need be” over the perceived bias in treatment between Grok and ChatGPT. Apple’s own antitrust chief had also sent Musk a warning letter about publishing private conversations between executives in tweets.

Far more than an App Store rankings complaint

The latest lawsuit is far more sweeping than an App Store rankings complaint, alleging that Apple and OpenAI are effectively building a walled garden to keep out competitors. The deal not only gives ChatGPT exclusive access to iPhone features but also locks out competitors from accessing Apple’s user base. Musk claims this is in violation of antitrust and unfair competition laws, and a threat to his “everything app” plans that depend on Twitter’s data.

The suit, which was filed in federal court in San Jose, California, accuses Apple of violating California’s Unfair Competition Law, the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Cartwright Act. It also names OpenAI as a co-conspirator, claiming that the companies are colluding to use Apple’s dominant position in smartphones to bolster ChatGPT. In the complaint, Musk alleges that Apple is using its control of the iPhone platform to prevent users from accessing Grok, throttling his ability to compete. This unfairly benefits Apple, as well as OpenAI, by locking out potential rivals and denying customers access to alternative AI services.

According to the complaint, Apple has integrated ChatGPT into iOS 18 as the default chatbot used across Siri, Apple’s Writing Tools, and other features. X argues that by giving OpenAI exclusive access to billions of user prompts this way, Apple is giving the AI chatbot an unfair advantage that rivals cannot overcome. The filing claims OpenAI already controls at least 80 percent of the market, and Apple’s integration could cement that lead for generations to come.

The complaint argues that generative AI chatbots would compete fiercely in a fair market. But it says, “defendants’ anticompetitive conduct has handed a substantial portion of the market to ChatGPT.”

Musk alleges that Apple is driven by a desire to prevent any competitor from gaining enough traction to become a true rival. He also contends Apple has concerns that a rival super app could one day make iPhones less important, much like how WeChat in China has supplanted individual smartphone functions. The suit also cites Apple executive Eddy Cue allegedly saying in meetings that AI could “destroy Apple’s smartphone business.”

The deal, Musk argues, is both an attempt by Apple to maintain iPhone dominance and a boon for OpenAI to crush potential rivals and build an insurmountable lead in generative AI. The agreement itself gives OpenAI enormous access to iPhone users, the suit also claims. In exchange for giving ChatGPT access to its products, Apple “moved the goal posts” to grant OpenAI unprecedented access to Apple’s own features and hardware.

Apple’s rivals pay “take a bite” for integrations

The suit also likens the deal to Apple’s long-running agreement with Google, which U.S. regulators argued made it hard to unseat Google as the default search engine. Apple, Musk argues, rejected multiple attempts from xAI to integrate Grok with iOS, even refused to feature Grok on the App Store when it released a new “Imagine” function.

Beyond that, the filing claims Apple has manipulated App Store rankings and delayed Grok updates to suppress competition. It seeks billions of dollars in damages and a permanent injunction to block Apple’s exclusive integration of ChatGPT.

Apple and OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In a statement to Ars Technica, an OpenAI spokesperson dismissed the suit as part of Musk’s “ongoing pattern of harassment.”